No Man’s Sky wasn’t a great game. We gave it a 6/10 in our review, which isn’t the worst score but is certainly not the best, either. Considering that many were of the opinion that it would be the greatest game released this generation, its overall critical reception was definitely much lower than anticipated, and the consumer reaction was even worse. In fact, the reaction was so overwhelmingly negative that now — over 2 months following the game’s release — people are still bleating about it.
Today a tweet from Hello Games immediately made the company a top trending topic on Twitter. The tweet reads “No Man’s Sky was a mistake,” and was promptly followed by the company’s Twitter account being locked. Many have speculated that the account was hacked (though the message was also posted to Sean Murray’s personal LinkedIn page) but the specifics don’t matter. What matters is once again people are firing on all cylinders when it comes to criticizing Hello Games, No Man’s Sky and the general pan-handling of the game’s launch. It never ends.
As is the case with any community surrounding a popular hobby, the gaming community can often be quite toxic. Herd mentality is particularly strong considering that this is a hobby that also sees its participants spending a lot of time on the internet, where their potentially damaging opinions can be validated by like-minded individuals on echo chambers forums and social networks. People had every right to be upset that No Man’s Sky didn’t live up to their expectations, and the advertising for No Man’s Sky was certainly off base when it came to representing the final product. Sean Murray was also definitely complicit in a lot of these mistruths, and I’ve even previously penned a summary of all the times when he discussed the game’s multiplayer capabilities, which we now know are practically non-existent.
But it’s been two months. Communication from Hello Games isn’t going to make No Man’s Sky a better game, and the continued pursuit of it is leading to an overwhelming amount of negativity. Sean Murray isn’t going to miraculously announce a patch that will transform it into everything players hoped it would be, and considering that the game’s player base has dropped significantly since launch, it’s arguable that even if he did manage to it wouldn’t matter much anyway. The vast majority have moved on from actually playing No Man’s Sky, but many still see fit to continue to cling on to this notion that Hello Games should be speaking directly with those who bought the company’s game, as though that would make things any better for either party. The reaction has been most vitriolic on the No Man’s Sky subreddit, where people continue to complain about Hello Games and Murray in their hundreds. Below is a recent stickied post made by one of the subreddit’s moderators, practically pleading with the developer to communicate with its audience:
Another stickied post on the forum also links to a Change.org petition, which has been created “to show Hello Games and Sean Murray how many of us need answers.”
As a consumer, you have every right to express your displeasure at a product you have purchased and dislike. You also have every right to continue these complaints two months after you bought the product, and after it’s already gathered a tremendous amount of dust on your shelf, or has been refunded/made its way to the used games section of GameStop. But why would you do that? Regardless of how stubborn those still occupying the No Man’s Sky conversation may continue to be, the game is dead. It has ceased to be. It is a late game. Even if Hello Games turned up to your doorstep with flowers and offered you an apologetic reach-around, the game that you bought wouldn’t get any better as a result.
So what’s the end goal here? To get a reaction out of a company that has continued to maintain a stoic silence throughout the duration of the controversy they’ve embroiled themselves in? It doesn’t need repeating, but Hello Games is a very small team. It’s made up of around 20 people, operating from out of a dingy office in Guildford that looks more like it belongs to an estate agent than a game developer. To go from that environment to finding yourself being the key talking point of E3 and developer of the PS4’s most anticipated new game is a big leap. It’s imaginable that many in Hello Games aren’t exactly dealing with controversy all too well, and while their pockets have definitely been lined as a result of No Man’s Sky‘s financial success, the emotional burden of having so many pitchforks pointed in your direction must be difficult to deal with. Though it’s inarguable that the developer’s reputation would have benefited from greater transparency with the players of its game, a sudden change of heart on their behalf will not rectify the issues with the game. If you’re still sore over No Man’s Sky, it’s suggestible that you adopt the same strategy as you do with every other piece of mediocre or disappointing media you experience — you get up and move on.
